Portalier Press Dev Slate '25/'26 [PUBLIC VERSION]

With kicking off Into the Portal, it just makes sense to lay out what Portalier Press is working on, including more details on the projects we talked about in our inaugural post. There will be two versions of this post:

• A public version (this one), visible to all, with details on our core projects
• A subscribers-only version, coming soon, which also breaks down a ton of our early-dev projects not covered here

This approach means we, much like plenty of TTRPG publishers who have dedicated Patreons or otherwise, can exercise a little caution with our more fragile ideas in early dev, while giving us an outlet to share pretty freely about development for our dedicated subscribers.

The projects in this post are our safe bets, or at least, as safe as a bet can be in the tumultuous world of creative development. They're a mix of flagstone projects we really want to get right, and smaller projects that are closer to the finish line. Of course, even in this group, any of these may never come to pass, or might only release to subscribers in ashcan form and never come together for a full release... but a big part of a blog like this is to talk openly about the cool shit we're developing.

So. Enter: the cool shit.

The Supplements

Social Engineer Artificer [D&D 5e '14 subclass @ DM's Guild]: This one has been on the verge of release for a long time, with the last layout nips and tucks needed for final release. Part two of a trio of Artificers conceived as the opening salvo of Portalier Press' initial slate, the Social Engineer is a bard-y Artificer who assists their party with social skills and access to non-damage support spells.

Trapsmith Artificer [D&D 5e '14 subclass @ DM's Guild]: The last in this trio of Artificers, the Trapsmith is exactly what it says on the tin: a battlefield control class that uses a collection of traps to constrain and control enemy movement and impose unfortunate conditions on them. This one is designed and written, and just waiting on art and layout before it can see the light of day.

The Games

The Box: A micro-RPG of devious manipulation, with the players trying to eliminate and outplay each other as they race to reach a goal that all of their characters must pretend to not be pursuing. Drafted in its most basic form in my Notes app a couple years ago and cleaned up this year for a public showing. And if I'm being a little cagey here, it's only because subscribers will likely be reading an untested ashcan version fairly soon...

Storybuilders: A storytelling micro-RPG about building a tale by committee in the world of dreams and stories. Another from the slate of micro-RPGs in my Notes app from a couple years ago that we've tidied up to post this year. This one's also tentatively ready for eyes on it, and will likely be available to subscribers later this fall

Eternal: A concept I first conceived as a TV pilot years ago, brought back to mind as a possible micro-TTRPG after an UnReal rewatch and playing the charmingly vicious visual novel Fledgling Manor. Sort of a cross between visual novel Fledgling Manor and Possum Creek's ttrpg The Flower Court, Eternal posits a reality show hosted the infamous Dorian Gray and featuring the worst people you can imagine, fighting for one chance at glorious, terrible eternal life – where literal backstabbing is not only implicitly accepted but actively encouraged. I'm currently wrestling the mechanics into submission, if they don't force me to tap out first.

Junker's Peace: Portalier Press' first big bet, a full TTRPG about building a homestead on an abandoned junkyard planet. Meshes, ideally, the exploration and immersion of D&D 5e with the cozy life-building of Stardew Valley and the exploration and excitement of an open-world survival game. Powered by a flexible goals system that evokes simple video game quests, Junker's Peace is all about a combat-lite alternative for those players (like the ones at my game table) who want full immersion in a game with fewer dragons and more farmlands. Conceived at first as a 1-page micro-TTRPG that revealed itself to have much deeper potential, it was on the verge of being playtest ready before I realized that what I had was under-serving the fantasy in some key ways, and now I'm working through a few extra systems to support them more robustly.

Devil's Hollow (final title TBC): A Wickedness-inspired GMless TTRPG, about a trio of sibling monster hunters grappling with temptation and darkness in a world on the edge of apocalypse. It's about fighting monsters, but really, it's about the weight of family and the push and pull between responsibility and freedom. I started developing this one in '22, based on a TV pilot I'd been kicking around, and it has pretty much all the components it needs to be playtested – except for, of course, being written out in a way anyone but me understands. My next step is taking the structure and writing it out, filling in any gaps and making sure it's playable, before pulling in some friends to play around in it with me.

So, there you have it! All of our core projects, all of which will hopefully release over the next couple of years, at least in ashcan form. We'll be sharing more of all of them – from development blogs to early versions to revision notes – as we develop them further. I'm really excited to be kicking off this journey with you!

And if you're curious about the projects we kept under our hat here, feel free to subscribe to the newsletter for access to more early-days dev content.